Bed.



A. A. RICHARDSON.

BED. APPLICATiON FILED AUGJB. 19I6.

Patented Apr. 29, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A. A. RICHARDSON.

BE'D.

APBLICATION FILED AUG.28. 1916.

Patented Apr. 29,1919

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. RICHARDSON.

- BED. APPLICATION FILED AUG.Z8. l9l6.

Patented Apr. 29,1919.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

m0. WASHINGTON. n. c.

ALFONSO .A. RICHARDSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BED.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 29, 1919.

Continuation of application Serial No. 13,818, filed March 12, 1915.This application filed August 28, 1916.

Serial No.

To all 1071 am it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALroNso A. RICHARD- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at New York, State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Beds, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to beds, and one of the objects of the same is toprovide a structure such that when a person reclines thereon, thebedding supporting medium, such as the usual spring construction, isautomatically made tauter by the weight of the person. Another object isto provide a hammock-like structure which does not sag like a hammock,and is therefore more in the nature of a bed. Other objects are toprovide a simple, practical and efficient' bed.

These being among the objects of the present invention, the sameconsists of'certain features of construction and combina tions of partsto be hereinafter described andthen claimed with reference to theaccompanying drawings illustrating desirable embodiments of theinvention, and in -which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bedconstructed in accordance with the present invention, parts of the bedsprings being shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof,parts being in dotted lines;

Fig; 3 is an end elevation;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged central transverse section;

Fig. 5' is a detail in elevation, partly in section, showing one of thejoints of the structure;

Fig. 6 is a detail spreader; and

Fig. 7 is a modification in which the improvements are shown assupported within an ordinary bedstead.

The frame of'the bed is preferably composed of metallic tubing andcomprises bed frame sections 10, 11, having side bars 12, 13, 12 and 13The side bars are connected by transverse connecting bars 14;, 14*, atthe top of the bed structure, and 15 at the bottom of the structure. Thebottom of the structure as, for instance, the transverse perspectiveview of the connecting bars 15, is preferably provided with casters orthe like, shown herein as consisting of anti-friction sleeves or rollers16. Attached to the upper connecting bars 14, 14, are the opposite endsof the bedding supporting medium 18, which may be in the nature of theusual spring mattress.

The side bars of the bed frame sections are connected together at theiropposite ends by means of parallel bars 19, 20, which constitute fulcrummembers and form side bars for the bed. These side bars are connectedwith the bed frame sections 10, 11, by

knuckle joints 21 shown in detail in Fig. 5, a stem 22 constituting onemember of the knuckle joint and another stem or arm 24 constituting theother member, the stem 22 being inserted in the preferably hollow bar orfulcrum member and being pinned thereto at 23, while the other member 24is provided with a sleeve 25 for receiving the adjacent side bar of thebed frame section, said sleeves being connected to the latter by pins26. The stems or arms or the like 22, 24:, are connected together byfulcrum pins 27, so that there will be four of these knuckle joints, orany suitable number, connecting the movable bed frame sections with thefulcrum members 19, 20. The side bars of the bed frame sections are bentat 28 so as to provide paired long arms 29, 30, which extend in oppositedirection and are inclined downwardly so that the pairs cross each otherat 31. It will be seen therefore, that the bed frame sections constitutelevers extending from end to end, with short arms above the knucklejoints and long arms below and extending beyond them. In other words,the bed frame sections are pivotally or movably connected with thefulcrum members on which they fulcrum, and the outer lower end of onebed frame section is disposed under the upper outer end of the otherframe section.

Preferably the bed frame sections are pro vided below the bends 28 withjoints at 34.- formed by telescoping the long arms of the levers 29, 30into the hollows of the bends, the bed frame sections being preferablyhollow. In order to limit the downward movement of the bed structurewhen the weight of a person is imposed upon the same by their recliningupon the bedding supporting medium, the bed frame sections are pro videdat opposite sides at 35, 36, respectively, with stop lugs, the stop lugs35 coming in contact with the side bars of the relatively movable bedframe section, while the stop lugs 36-act in a similar manner,

there being stop lugs at both sides of the point of crossing 31 of thebed frame sections.

It will be seen that the weight of a person reclining upon the beddingsupporting medium 18 will act to lower the latter and the entirestructure, due to the factv that a purchase is obtained at each lowerouter end of the bed frame sections, with the re sult that the long armsof the levers extending upwardly toward the knuckle joints will act uponthe shorter arms of the levers 32, 33, extending above said joints,thereby tending to move said short arms away from each other, therebystretching the bedding supporting medium longitudinally of the bedstructure. The object of this is to prevent undue sagging of the beddingsupporting medium by automatically tightening the same by the weight ofthe occupant.

In some cases the above described construction or its equivalent may beall that is necessary to meet the requirements, but preferably means areprovided for stretching the bedding supporting medium transversely aswell as longitudinally. To this end a spreader 37 is employed, which mayconsist of strips or rods of spring metal bent into closed loop form, asshown clearly in Figs. 2 and 6. This spreader extends transversely ofthe mid-length of the bedding supporting medium and the ends thereof aresecured to rather stiff side spring brackets 38. The structure composedof the said spreader and the brackets is preferably formed of continuouslengths of spring wire so as to provide spring jaws or holding members39 at the outer lower ends of the spring brackets and bent up springs 40of any suitable shape. Preferably at the outer ends of the spreader 37clips 41 are fastened, at the points from which the spring brackets 38extend downwardly, said clips being formed preferably of sheet metalbent around the parts to which they are applied, said clips beingprovided with outwardly facing attaching hooks 41. In use the springjaws or clips 39 are sprung over the side bars or fulcrum members 19,20, so as to act as a rest or support, and the brackets 38 extendupwardly toward the bedding supporting medium, with the spreader 37extending between them and just underneath the bedding supporting mediumso that the downward pressure on said medium will be transmitted to orresisted by the spreader structure. It will be seen that in this way thespreader structure constitutes a transverse bridge for the auxiliarysupport of the occupant of the bed, the springs 40 acting to giveadditional spring support for the occupant. hen the spreader is inposition, the attaching, hooks or clips 41, which face outwardly, willbe brought into engagement with side stiffening rods 41,

claims.

41*, located at the sides of the bedding supporting medium. Thesestiffeningrods or bars need only extend a part of the length of the bed,and they constitute tension members for the purpose of placing lateraltension upon the bedding supporting medium, to which end the latter maybe provided with transverse spring connections, suchas 37*, extendingbetween the side edges of said medium. It will be noticed that if theside bars of the transverse spreader 37 are pressed together, they willact to spread or extend the bedding supporting medium transversely,through the medium of said side bars and the tension rods 41". In thisway the'longitudinal tension on the bedding supporting medium issupplemented by a transverse tension.

The means for setting up this transverse tension through the spreader 37may consist of guy lines 42, 43, there being one pair 42 of lines andanother pair 43. The ends of the guy lines 42, 43, are respectivelyattached to the opposite ends of the bed frame sections at the crossbars 14, 14 and to the spreader 37, said lines crossing one side of thespreader and being attached to the remote side. It will be seentherefore that when the bedding supporting medium is subjected to theweight of a person thereon, the frame of the bed is extendedlongitudinally, which acts upon the guy' lines so as to pull the sideportions of the spreader together, thereby extending said spreader inthe direction of the width of the bed, which will result in stretchingthe bedding supporting medium transversely.

An adaptation of the invention to an ordinary bedstead is illustrated inFig. 7. Like parts of the described device bear similar numerals in thisfigure. The bedstead 44 may support the described structure between itshead and foot pieces and the side rails, as shown, that is to say, thedescribed construction of bed may be hung from'the bedstead 44, so thatit is more in the nature of a hammock. To this end the end rails 45, 46of the bedstead are engaged by hooked hangers or suspenders 47, 48,which are movably connected with the outer lower ends of the bed framesections 10 11;

It is obvious that the invention is susceptible of modification, asparts may be omitted, parts added, and parts substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the What I claim as new is:-

1. In a bed, the combination of a bed frame which is expansible andcontractible, and comprising opposite connected lever devices and acommon fulcrum member at each sideof said frame for said devices, eachof the levers of said lever devices comprising a longarm and a shortarm, said short arm being extended outwardly from said long arm at asubstantial angle, and said fulcrum member being opposed to said leverat a point adjacent the angle formed by its said arms, and a beddingsupporting medium connected with portions of said lever devices andadapted to be automatically expanded by said frame and stretchedlongitudinally when a suitable weight is imposed on said medium.

2. In a bed, the combination of a bed frame which is expansible andcontractible longitudinally, a longitudinally expansible spreaderextending transversely of and connected With said frame, and a beddingsupporting medium connected with portions of said frame and adapted tobe automatically expanded by said frame and spreader and stretched intWo transverse directions when a suitable weight is imposed on saidmedium.

3. In a bed, the combination of crossed substantially rigid levermembers at both sides of the bed, the same being fulcrumed' togetherabove their crossings, means for connecting said members across the bed,and a bedding-supporting medium connected with the said connecting meansand adapted to automatically exert tension on said members to stretchsaid medium, under weight imposed on said medium, and a longitudinallyexpansible spreader extending transversely of and connected with saidlever members and adapted to exert outward thrust on said supportingmedium, under the imposition of said weight.

4. In a bed, the combination of crossed substantially rigid levermembers at both sides of the bed, the said members being fulcrumedtogether above their crossings, means for connecting said members acrossthe bed, and a bedding-supporting medium connected with the saidconnecting means and adapted to automatically exert tension on saidmembers to stretch said medium, under Weight imposed on said medium, anda longitudinally expansible spreader loop extending transversely of andconnected with said lever members and guy lines connecting the ends ofsaid lever members respectively with the remote sides of said loop,whereby said loop is adapted to exert outward thrust on said supportingmedium under' the imposition of said weight.

5. In a bed, the combination of a bed frame which is expansible andcontractible longitudinally, a bedding-supporting medium connected Withthe ends of said frame, and a longitudinally expansible spreader loop extending transversely of and connected with said medium to produce sidethrust on the sides of said medium, whereby a weight imposed on saidmedium causes the stretching of said medium longitudinally andtransversely.

6. In a bed, the combination of a bed frame which is expansible andcontractible longitudinally, a bedding-supporting medium connected withthe ends of said frame, and a longitudinally expansible spreader loopextending transversely of and connected with said medium to produce sidethrust on the sides of said medium, and guy lines con necting the endsof said frame respectively with the remote sides of said loop, whereby aweight imposed on said medium causes the stretching of said mediumlongitudinally and transversely.

7. A bed, comprising crossed lever members, and connections for saidmembers comprising stiff means With Which said members are pivotallyconnected and restraining means consisting of stop lugs cooperating withsaid members to prevent collapse of said bed, said members beingdisconnected at their points of crossing.

8. A bed, comprising two frame-sections formed in closed oblong shape,the opposite side portions of each of said sections being bent at asubstantial angle and in the same direction as the opposite sideportions of the other section and crossing each other, said sectionsbeing disconnected at their crossings, means for connecting said sideportions above their crossings, the angular bends of said sections beinglocated directly below their points of connection with said connectingmeans.

9. In a bed, the combination with rigid supporting means, of a bedframe, compris ing relatively movable sections, arranged within saidmeans and loosely suspended therefrom by said sections, said frame beingexpansible and contractible, and provided with a bedding supportingmedium connected with portions of said frame and adapted toautomatically expand said frame and stretch said medium when a suitableweight is imposed on said medium.

ALFONSO A. RICHARDSON.

Witnesses:

Gno. L. WHEELOCK, BEATRICE Mrnvrs.

Copier of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner or Watent'o,

Washington, D. G.

